Zhou Yan put away the auction lists and said, "These lists are fine. Um, I wanted to ask, about the buildings I asked you to help acquire last time, have you made any progress?"
Ever since he learned about the functions of those dungeons, he had been thinking about this matter.
He had also asked Xiao Wei to help find similar worlds, hoping to obtain corresponding buildings.
As long as more dungeons were built, a lot of soul coins could be saved in the long run.
However, he knew that it would not be possible to collect many in a short period.
These things were not common commodities; they couldn't be obtained in any quantity desired.
"We have received some, but not many. After all, no one wants those kinds of buildings, so there's no demand in the market. We've only just started collecting, so naturally, we don't have much. But our boss is making every effort to collect them..." Gao Jin said hurriedly.
Zhou Yan quickly asked, "How many buildings have you collected so far?"
"Only two, and their quality is very low," Gao Jin replied.
"Two is better than none, bring them over for me to see," Zhou Yan said.
Gao Jin brought out the two dungeons.
Zhou Yan examined them. One was an E-quality [Wild Rabbit Forest], and the other was a C-quality [Undead Graveyard].
He kept them. He didn't care about the quality, as long as he had them.
However, Gao Jin didn't think that way.
He didn't know that Zhou Yan's territory could evolve all buildings.
Therefore, he felt very ashamed that he hadn't collected enough, fearing that the other party would not want to trade with him.
"I can see that you've done your best. Two is two. Just keep an eye out for me in the future," Zhou Yan said.
Gao Jin was very happy upon hearing this. He hadn't expected Zhou Yan to be so accommodating. He quickly said, "Don't worry, I've already arranged for many people. As soon as there's any news of these buildings on the market, they'll be bought immediately."
"Then, can we discuss further cooperation?" Gao Jin asked.
He naturally wouldn't refuse a profitable business.
Besides, he still needed to cooperate with the other party and have them help collect dungeon-type buildings.
They were the most powerful merchant shop in this world. If even they couldn't collect them, then others certainly wouldn't be able to.
He began to trade other items with Zhou Yan, which was beneficial to both of them.
Two hours later, Zhou Yan left the [Dragon Radiance Merchant Shop].
Not long after walking out of the [Dragon Radiance Merchant Shop], someone stopped him. It seemed they were specifically looking for him.
When the person turned around, Zhou Yan remembered. It was the guy with the protagonist aura from the previous auction.
This protagonist aura was, of course, his own wild guess.
"Are you looking for me?" Zhou Yan asked.
"Hello, my surname is Ye, and my given name is Ye Ming," the other person introduced himself, extending his hand.
Damn it! A guy with the surname Ye, and accompanied by beautiful women. If this guy isn't the protagonist of this world, then I'll smash my head into a tofu!
As the saying goes: There are countless protagonists in the world, and half of them are from the Ye family, the other half from the Lin family.
But, in places where I, Zhou Yan, am present, all other protagonists must stand aside!
Zhou Yan also extended his hand, clasped Ye Ming's, and said, "What a coincidence, my surname is also Ye, and my given name is Ye Wen."
Ye Ming: (・_・)ヾ
"Would you be willing to come to my place for a while? I'd like to make friends with you," Ye Ming said.
"No problem, no problem. I won't refuse any trade," Zhou Yan replied.
Ye Ming was slightly surprised and said, "It's so much easier talking to smart people."
Ye Ming smiled, waved his hand, and said, "Please."
"En."
Zhou Yan followed him.
Soon, someone informed Gao Jin that Zhou Yan had been invited away by Ye Ming. Gao Jin said, "Avoid people like that. Whoever Mr. Zhou wants to cooperate with is his own choice. We just need to do our jobs well."
He wasn't an idiot. Offending two people with unlimited potential would be seeking his own destruction.
He just needed to focus on his own business.
Ye Ming also opened a shop, located on a bustling street, called "Myriad Stars."
Although the shop was smaller than [Dragon Radiance Merchant Shop], it had many items, a complete range of goods, and decent business.
Upon entering the upper floor, a beautiful woman was already preparing tea. She was one of the women who had been with Ye Ming at the auction.
Seeing Zhou Yan arrive, the woman immediately stood up and said, "I've prepared tea for Mr. Zhou. I hope you like it."
Zhou Yan smiled. The other party had even found out his name.
He didn't feel awkward at all.
As the saying goes:
Being shameless makes one invincible.
Uh... I think I'm insulting myself.
The two of them sat down.
Zhou Yan stated directly, "Cooperation is fine, but I need all sorts of buildings. As long as you can help me acquire what I need, cooperation will be easy."
Ye Ming smiled, "Mr. Zhou is straightforward, and I won't beat around the bush. Coincidentally, I had people collect many of those buildings before. I thought they were useless, but I didn't expect them to be useful now."
"That is rather surprising to me."
Zhou Yan was indeed surprised. As expected of someone with a protagonist aura, he knew how to collect things that others didn't need.
Ye Ming was also very decisive and directly brought out over a dozen buildings.
Zhou Yan examined them carefully and was overjoyed. One of them was even an S-quality dungeon.
Although he was happy, he showed no excitement on the surface.
After all, when you're out and about, it's all about acting.
"Mr. Ye Ming shows great sincerity. Whatever you need, don't hesitate to say it."
With items from myriad realms, he could buy whatever the other party needed.
"All kinds of weapons, armor, accessories, blueprints, job change scrolls, and skill books are needed," Ye Ming replied.
"That's easy to handle. Then we can discuss prices specifically."
Zhou Yan naturally wouldn't refuse. He could buy as many of these items as he wanted from other worlds.
Next, it was time for the two of them to negotiate prices.
Ye Ming was also very sincere. He wanted to engage in long-term cooperation with Zhou Yan, selling all these buildings to him at the lowest possible price, almost as if giving them away for free.
They negotiated for several hours before shaking hands with satisfaction and adding each other as friends.
"See you next time."
"Goodbye."
Zhou Yan left with satisfaction.
With over a dozen more dungeons, the soul coins needed to upgrade soldiers could be significantly reduced.
The levels of soldiers had always been the most troublesome problem for all lords.
They could level up some heroes to max level, but they couldn't upgrade an entire powerful army to max level.
Even Zhou Yan himself couldn't do it; the soul coins required were simply too much.
Therefore, every lord dared not summon too many troops, as they couldn't afford to support them.
New lords typically only dared to support between one hundred and five hundred soldiers.
Unlike him, his current number of soldiers had already exceeded thirty thousand.
Even a lord who had developed for ten years would absolutely not dare to summon so many soldiers.
Every additional soldier summoned meant spending an immense amount of wealth.
From soul coins to spirit coins, equipment, food, and living expenses, to wages, these were all massive expenses.
Do summoned soldiers not require wages?
Do you think every summoned soldier has 100% loyalty and can be kept without a single coin?
Apart from Zhou Yan's territory, no one else's territory had this benefit.
Therefore, Zhou Yan was a lord who had developed through cheats.